Falcons' Arnold Ebiketie: Records first sack of season
Rotowire
Ebiketie tallied five tackles (three solo), including 1.0 sacks, in Sunday's 27-21 Week 9 win over the Cowboys.
Ebiketie added a pair of additional quarterback hits to his first sack of the season, a first-quarter takedown of Dak Prescott. The linebacker logged 67 percent of Atlanta's defensive snaps in the contest -- his highest mark of the campaign. Ebiketie has played over half of the Falcons' defensive snaps in three of his past four games after doing so only once through the season's first five weeks.
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Falcons' Arnold Ebiketie: Career-high 6.0 sacks in 2023
Rotowire
Ebiketie finished 2023 with 25 tackles, 6.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and one pass defense in 17 appearances.
A 2022 second-round pick, Ebiketie appeared in one more game than his rookie season but played 130 fewer defensive snaps. This may have been by design, as the Falcons loaded up on pass rushers last offseason to ensure Ebiketie was fresh when he was on the field. Despite the reduced playing time, Ebiketie posted 3.5 more sacks than last year and proved to be a disruptor, forcing two forced fumbles for a second straight season. Bud Dupree may sign elsewhere this offseason, which would open up more snaps for Ebiketie in 2024, but the Falcons would presumably bring in someone to replace Dupree if that's the case.
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Falcons' Arnold Ebiketie: Logs sack versus Saints
Rotowire
Ebiketie tallied one tackle (one solo), with a sack, in Sunday's 24-15 win versus the Saints.
Ebiketie had a solid outing Sunday, as he recorded the only sack of the day for the Falcons. The 2022 second-round pick now has a career high 4.5 sacks through the first 11 games of the season.
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Falcons' Arnold Ebiketie: Ready to return
Rotowire
Ebiketie (forearm) will return to practice this week according to head coach Arthur Smith, Tori McElhaney of the Falcons' official site reports.
Ebiketie suffered the injury Week 12 against the Commanders, but after missing Week 13, he's ready to return to the field following the Week 14 bye. He should regain his steady role in the team's linebacker rotation Sunday against the Saints.
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Falcons' Arnold Ebiketie: Out Sunday
Rotowire
Ebiketie (forearm) is inactive Sunday against the Steelers, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com reports.
Ebiketie left Week 12 against Washington early with the injury, and he'll now miss Week 13. In his absence, DeAngelo Malone and Quinton Bell are candidates to see increased opportunities.
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Falcons' Arnold Ebiketie: Taken by Atlanta in second round
Rotowire
The Falcons selected Ebiketie in the second round of the 2022 NFL Draft, 38th overall.
Ebiketie (6-foot-2, 250 pounds) was a highly productive edge disruptor at Temple and Penn State, producing 9.5 sacks and 18 tackles for loss in 12 games for the Nittany Lions last year after posting four sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss in six games for Temple the year prior. Ebiketie might not have the long speed of some of the edge rushers selected before him, but he has good reach (34 and 1/8-inch arms) and excellent burst (38-inch vertical jump, 128-inch broad jump). Ebiketie could establish himself as one of Atlanta's best defenders in short order.
